An eight-decade-old rowing course has been cut short by an ill-conceived fountain that has blocked an entire section of lake water.

| TNN | Jul 3, 2014, 03.32 AM IST

KOLKATA: An eight-decade-old rowing course has been cut short by an ill-conceived fountain that has blocked an entire section of lake water. Shortchanged in the Rabindra Sarobar beautification drive, the rowing fraternity is now eyeing a sprawling jheel near Kalyani where rowers can practice and compete without impediment.

"An island to the west of Sarobar Bridge near Tollygunge Circular Road has traditionally been used to change from the up-stream course to down-stream by navigating the boat around it. This gave us ample opportunity to build up momentum before passing under the bridge and hitting the one km stretch from the clubs to the eastern end near Dhakuria. But the installation of the fountain between the island and the southern bank of the lake has altered the course completely. Since we cannot turn around the island now, it is meaningless to take the boats to the western stretch of the lake beyond the bridge. We now have a one km course instead of 1.7 km and since there is no stretch to gain momentum, we end up rowing only 700 m full steam," a rower told TOI.

The fountain was initially proposed in the western section of the lake where much of the practice and all the racing takes place. That would have meant bidding rowing goodbye for good. But with representatives of all four rowing clubs — Calcutta Rowing Club, Bengal Rowing Club, Lake Club and Calcutta University Rowing Club — pleading with the authorities, the fountain site was changed. "We had suggested a lily pond but it was set up in the western end of the lake, affecting a part of the course," a club official said.

Inexplicably, the fountain was installed by West Bengal Pollution Control Board and not Kolkata Improvement Trust, the custodian of Rabindra Sarobar and the agency executing the beautification project.

Ashok Mehta, a former rowing champion who now coaches and umpires at international rowing events, is peeved over the mindless beautification drive. "Rowing is an Olympic sport that has Indian representation. Yet, it is treated shabbily.

I don't know whose brainchild it is to set up a fountain but it has damaged the sport. Anything cropping up where rowing happens is a hindrance. First, we had the new bridge connecting the flyover whose span was shorter than the earlier one, thereby affecting rowing and then the fountain," fumed Mehta.

Pointing to the lake's green algae infested water, the five time Asian champion said it had turned into a tank with engineers deciding to snap the pipeline that connected the lake with Adi Ganga during the Metro construction. "Earlier, the lake would get washed as the water rushed in during high tide and out during low tide. But now, it is solely dependent on rain," he said.

The lake at Dhakuria was dug in 1923-31. Rowing at the lake began in 1932 and continued since then. Prior to that, rowing has been held in the Hooghly river in 1858. But the decision to shift was taken because there are whirlpools in the river.

Club officials though, are unwilling to comment on the fountain lest it offends the government. Instead, most of them focus on the lack of civic sense among citizens who chuck floral offerings and garbage into the lake from the bridge.

Calcutta Rowing Club secretary Chandan Roy Chowdhury said that the area under the bridge needed to be dredged and high fence erected along the sides of the bridge to prevent the menace. "So much muck has gathered there that it is hardly navigable now," he remarked.

West Bengal Rowing Association secretary Joydeep Datta Gupta says an alternative rowing course is the need of the hour and has even identified a sprawling waterbody near Kalyani that is more than 2 km in length, the requisite distance for a competitive course.

"The standard distance for a course is 2 km. Unfortunately, Rabindra Sarobar was never that long. And now it has become shorter. Unless our boys practice full stretch, their stamina will never get tested. That's one of the reasons why we have not done very well in the open categories," said Datta Gupta.

According to him, sports minister Madan Mitra and department secretary Rajesh Pandey have promised to look at the site that is currently under fisheries department, study the feasibility and then provide assistance. "I have spoken to the regional centre officials of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and they are willing to set up a rowing unit if we find a 2,000-metre course. I am hopeful we will soon have better infrastructure to support rowing," he said.

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